(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Bots on phones. Bots on chats. Bots by email. But how about a real life AI human? It’s happening right now.
Danny Tomsett, who’s company UneeQ creates AI-driven digital humans is not out to replace actdual humans. He just wants to extend them. He wants AI to be human where humans can’t be. And there’s a growing number of organizations that are seeing how this can provide value.
UneeQ’s digital humans are lifelike avatars that are designed to help organizations both train their employees and serve customers when humans aren’t available to do so. The company’s core offerings include an immersive training platform where teams can practice real-world conversations and roleplay corporate situations with avatars in order to troubleshoot problems and practice handling issues that come up. Their platform then provides performance feedback and measurement.
Digital Human Operating System
The company also provides what it calls a Digital Human Operating System, where avatars can interact with customers to solve service issues. The avatars are trained and “brand-safe” and are used as company ambassadors and as representatives at events and kiosks.
“With the proper training, human-like avatars can provide a regular and consistent level of service for organizations that may already be overloaded,” he said.
One such organization is the Australian government. Resource-strapped, the government needed trained people to help guide visitors with disabilities through their complex online services.
“This is how we were founded,” he said. “The government’s call centers were so overloaded. Average hold times were like two hours for people trying to get help just to get food on their doorstep… so we built a digital human AI to help people navigate those systems.”
Digital Humans Improving Customer Experience
But it goes beyond that. Tomsett says that AI avatars can help to significantly improve both customer experience and sales for any organization.
“Companies are using digital humans to help customers make decisions, especially when purchases are complex,” he said. “By addressing uncertainty and guiding users, avatars can increase conversions. Digital humans can do this consistently in a friendly, non-judgmental way.”
I admit that I’m not a fan of talking to AI bots, being audio or video impersonations. I’m the guy who calls the hotel front desk or the airline’s support number and immediately pounds on the operator button to get transferred to a human. Part of that is generational. Part of that is finding it difficult to speak conversationally with a bot because they still just don’t satisfactorily keep up with a typical conversation flow before stumbling. Another part is that I — like most people — simply like to speak to people.
But that’s changing. Companies like UneeQ are making it simply easier to get answers to a question when working with an avatar. And they’re smart enough to give users or callers or customers the option of speaking to a human if they prefer.
Digital Humans: Why They’re Better
But isn’t an AI generated voice enough for a customer or employee conversation. Tomsett says people need more than that, and that humans “naturally respond” to faces and conversation.
“A visual, voice-based AI interface can create trust and make information easier to understand than text or traditional chatbots,” he said. “There’s something inherently in us that we’re hardwired to look at a face and try to assess whether if the person is “safe” or are they trustworthy? So putting a face to a brand changes how people respond.”
Digital Humans: Trust And Authenticity
One trend I’m seeing among customer service leaders who are incorporating AI into their system is to ensure that the bot answering calls or responding to questions immediately identifies themselves as a bot — and gives the caller the option of quickly transferring to a human if preferred.
Tomsett emphasized that his company deliberately makes it clear when users are interacting with AI rather than pretending the avatar is human.
“Authenticity starts with being transparent,” he said. “Trying to connect to humans is the goal — trying to be human is not the goal. Authenticity is going to be such a key area as people judge brands and how they use AI.”
Digital Humans In The Real World
So is this working in real life? According to Tomsett it absolutely is.
Besides the Australian government, he cites the City of Amarillo as an example, where AI avatars help residents interact with visitors in more than 60 languages.
“It’s an easier and more friendly interface for people that are already struggling with communicating their needs in a foreign tongue.”
He also mentioned other companies they’ve worked with where avatars play a major part in workforce training by helping employees practice conversations with AI avatars simulating customers and coworkers.
For now, because of the resources required to build, train and implement a system that uses avatars, it’s mostly been a big organization story. But Tomsett does expect adoption to expand, even to small businesses, as its underlying technology becomes less expensive. He sees this as extending the human capabilities of existing workers at smaller organizations — where skilled labor is in high demand and many jobs are unfilled. And he believes that AI will ultimately become the primary interface for interacting with organization.
“We’re betting that digital humans could replace traditional website navigation and become the main “front door” for interacting with companies and services,” he said. “Instead of clicking through websites, you interact with a digital human that removes the friction.”
